Energy Tradeoffs Podcast #21 – Joshua Macey

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This week’s EnergyTradeoffs.com podcast episode features Cornell’s Joshua Macey talking with David Spence about his research on “Renewables and Reliability in Competitive Wholesale Electricity Markets.”

In the interview, Joshua explains why electric power providers in competitive markets are relying more and more on capacity markets, which pay them just for being available to provide power, and less on energy markets, which pay them only when they are actually providing power. He critiques the way that interstate grid operators and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission have implemented these capacity markets, arguing that current rules discriminate against renewable resources such as wind and solar power.

The discussion builds on Joshua’s forthcoming University of Pennsylvania Law Review article with Jackson Salovaara, “Rate Regulation Redux.”

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Energy Tradeoffs Podcast #20 – Carey King

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Today’s EnergyTradeoffs.com podcast episode features David Spence interviewing Carey King, his colleague at the University of Texas, about Carey’s research on “Economic Growth, Inequality & Decarbonization.”

Carey and David discuss several ways that transitioning to cleaner energy sources will change the economy. In particular, Carey notes that “lower carbon infrastructure tends to be higher capital cost relative to operating cost, implying less labor and lower employment” and explains how this could affect economic growth and inequality.

NB: This increased emphasis on capital investment means that the cost of cleaner energy will increasingly depend on reducing the cost of capital, a challenging task in a time of legal uncertainty. I have recently published two pieces on this topic: “Energy Market and Policy Revolutions: Regulatory Process and the Cost of Capital” and “Pipelines & Power-Lines: Building the Energy Transport Future.”

The discussion builds on two of Carey’s recent articles: “Modeling the point of use EROI and its implications for economic growth in China” & “Delusions of grandeur in building a low-carbon future.”

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Energy Tradeoffs Podcast #19 – Daniel Raimi

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Our new EnergyTradeoffs.com podcast episode features Resources for the Future’s Daniel Raimi talking with David Spence about his research on “Fossil Fuels and the Risk Profile of Fracking.”

Daniel talks about his recent book, which evaluates common concerns about fracking, including polluted water supplies, diesel emissions, increased risks of earthquakes, and greenhouse gas emissions. Daniel explains how recent studies support or do not support these concerns. Daniel also explains how these risks can be addressed, noting how shale gas can be used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in some circumstance but can raise emissions in other circumstances.

Daniel’s 2018 book is titled “The Fracking Debate: The Risks, Benefits, and Uncertainties of the Shale Revolution.” The interview also builds on Daniel’s 2019 paper on “The Greenhouse Gas Impacts of Increased US Oil and Gas Production.”

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Energy Tradeoffs Podcast #18 – Ari Peskoe

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This Thursday’s EnergyTradeoffs.com podcast episode features Harvard Law School’s Ari Peskoe talking with David Spence about his research on “Reliability, Decarbonization & Federal-State Conflict Over Electricity Markets.”

Ari and David talk about restructured power markets and struggles over the extent of federal and state authority to ensure that there are enough power plants and that electricity remains reliable. And Ari explains his work on a brief of electricity law scholars that defended states’ authority to adopt “zero emissions credits” that support nuclear power.

This discussion also builds on Ari’s recent paper, which is titled, “Easing Jurisdictional Tensions by Integrating Public Policy in Wholesale Electricity Markets.”

As an aside, my favorite part of the podcast comes near the start, when David offers the funny-because-it’s-true observation that “Ari is a Twitter public servant” because he “provides a lot of public goods on Twitter.”

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Energy Tradeoffs Podcast #17 – Melinda Taylor

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Another week, another EnergyTradeoffs.com podcast episode. This week, the University of Texas’s Melinda Taylor talks with David Spence about her research on “Studying Intensive Energy Development (Oil & Gas, Wind and Solar) in West Texas.”

Melinda talks about her work with the Cynthia & George Mitchell Foundation on “a community-based landscape conservation plan” for three West Texas counties that are part of Texas’s staggering oil, gas, & renewable power boom — the biggest energy boom the world has ever seen. These “relatively yet-untouched counties in west Texas … host beautiful, iconic landscape features.”

You can learn more about this area of West Texas, and the energy boom — and hear more from Melinda — in this trailer for “The Long Game” a documentary series by the Mitchell Foundation.

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Energy Tradeoffs Podcast #16 – Todd Davidson

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For this week’s EnergyTradeoffs.com podcast interview, we have David Spence interviewing Todd Davidson, his colleague at the University of Texas, about Todd’s research on “Long-term storage needs, ‘green gases,’ & the energy transition.”

Todd and David’s discussion focuses on one of the most pressing problems with increasing reliance on solar and wind power: how to store the energy from these sources for use during periods where they are unavailable. He notes some of the reasons that lithium-ion batteries are, at best, only able to address a small part of this problem. And he explores the potential of storing renewable energy as hydrogen gas.

The interview principally draws on two of Todd’s recent articles: one is titled, “A Review of Four Case Studies Assessing the Potential for Penetration of Hydrogen Energy in a Future Energy System“, the other is, “Impacts of renewable hydrogen production from wind energy in electricity markets on potential hydrogen demand for light-duty vehicles.” 

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Energy Tradeoffs Podcast #15 – William Boyd

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Today’s EnergyTradeoffs.com podcast episode features UCLA’s William Boyd talking with David Spence about his research on “‘Public’ Utility: Steering Markets Toward Public Ends“.

In the interview, William explains his critique of FERC’s approach to price formation in natural gas markets and electricity auctions. William argues that markets cannot be insulated from politics and that the policy choices that often dominate cost-of-service ratemaking can emerge in restructured energy markets as well.

The discussion builds on two of William’s recent articles: “Public Utility and the Low Carbon Future,” and “Just Price, Public Utility and the Long History of Economic Regulation in America.”

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Energy Tradeoffs Podcast #14 – Dana Harmon

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This week’s EnergyTradeoffs.com podcast features the University of Texas’s David Spence interviewing Dana Harmon about her work on “Energy Poverty and the Green Transition.”

Dana describes the challenges of ensuring that low-income consumers have access to reliable energy at affordable prices. Dana and David discuss how to address these challenges as energy markets transition toward cleaner power sources, electrified transport, and increased reliance on distributed generation.

Dana is the Executive Director of the Texas Energy Poverty Research Institute, which seeks to improve energy services for low-income communities and reduce the burden of paying for energy.

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Energy Tradeoffs Podcast #13 – Eisen & Welton

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In this week’s EnergyTradeoffs.com podcast interview, the University of Richmond’s Joel Eisen and the University of South Carolina’s Shelley Welton talk with David Spence about their research on “Net Metering & the Value of Distributed Solar Generation.”

David, Joel, and Shelley discuss hot-button questions about net-metering, which effectively pays homeowners with rooftop solar the retail price for the electricity that they provide to the grid. This price is higher than that received by other power generators. Net metering offers environmental benefits but imposes costs on other electricity users. David kicks off the discussion by addressing the common question whether net-metering is regressive and segues into a discussion of the broad array of studies on the effects of net metering.

The interview builds on Joel & Shelley’s just-published article in the Harvard Environmental Law Review, which is titled “Clean Energy Justice: Charting an Emerging Agenda.”

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Energy Tradeoffs Podcast #12 – Amy Stein

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Another week, another EnergyTradeoffs.com podcast episode. This week, the University of Florida’s Amy Stein talks with David Spence about her research on “Maintaining Reliability in a Distributed Energy World.”

Amy and David explore the challenges of maintaining power grid reliability when an increasing amount of electricity is produced by distributed sources such as rooftop solar. Amy explains how energy storage and demand response can provide this reliability. And she describes how these “reliability resources” may be a poor fit with historical methods of utility investment and regulation.

The interview builds on Amy’s 2016 article on “Distributed Reliability,” which was published in the University of Colorado Law Review.

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